twiddle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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"It's July 2023. Building out the leadership of that operation today, so they can sit around and twiddle their thumbs for the next six months would be nuts," he said.
From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2023
During offseasons, she’d twiddle her thumbs, unsure of what exactly to do with herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
“You know it’s going to end. So you can’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
We have no more time to twiddle our collective thumbs.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2020
“I twiddle about with lines of verse now and then, but it’s only a hobby. In any case, thank you for indulging me.”
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
Abrasive, shallow and giddily watchable, her Wow Platinum — what a name! — twiddles her clawed fingers like a femme fatale dead certain she can charm her way to the top.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Liberated from chronology and fact, the comedy-drama twiddles the timeline of Catherine’s career and marriage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2021
There were still the little tricks and twiddles, particularly early on, before the game got away from him, before the little kicks and frustrations began to chip away at his joy.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2020
“We can’t afford to allow more devastation to be caused to the park while the Park Service twiddles their thumbs trying to come up with an expensive plan,” Gosar said in a statement this week.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 26, 2016
He twiddles his thumbs and takes a few measured breaths.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
You could follow the text at the bottom of the screen, but most people just twiddled their thumbs and waited.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025
One of the most stunning allegations Thursday was that while Ohtani twiddled his batting gloves, Mizuhara refused to allow anyone else on his business team to view Ohtani’s $16-million spigot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
There was a woman in a leather hat complaining that she had been treated rudely by a county worker, a man watching while he twiddled a Rubik’s Cube.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2022
Alma’s poltergeist not only twiddled necklaces but sprang them from shop counters; it whipped saucers across rooms, upended eiderdowns, spun rings on to fingers.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2020
Mr. Hrbik frowned and twiddled his pencil and said nothing.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
“It’s not like we’re twiddling our thumbs and trying to get some money. This is a very serious condition,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2026
Meanwhile Miami, which had been ranked behind Notre Dame, and like the Irish, had been inactive and twiddling thumbs over conference championship weekend, vaulted over South Bend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
The court granted cert to the case on Wednesday, after twiddling its thumbs for 16 days, and it scheduled oral arguments for April 22.
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2024
For now, I'll be twiddling my thumbs, waiting for Hollywood to come out with another Indian-American horror story soon.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2023
“Harry, Harry, just the man I was hoping to see!” he boomed genially, twiddling the ends of his walrus mustache and puffing out his enormous belly.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
